MONTREAL — The RCMP is investigating how and why $1.5 million in payments made their way into Swiss bank accounts belonging to Michel Fournier, the former boss of a federal Crown corporation that operates the Jacques-Cartier and Champlain bridges in Quebec.

Fournier, a long-time Liberal, is an ex-chief of staff to Jean Chretien when he was opposition leader. Fournier is now retired and living in Victoria, B.C.

Lebel's office called in the RCMP after receiving a secret investigative report from Daniel H. Tingley, a retired Quebec Superior Court judge, and a Montreal forensic accounting firm.

The judge and the accounting firm examined Fournier's role and involvement in the awarding of a $110-million contract to resurface the concrete roadway on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge in 2000, and the subsequent approval of $17 million in change orders and additional payments, pushing the total to $127 million.

A consortium led by SNC-Lavalin — linked to several corruption affairs involving millions in bribes paid for contracts in Canada and overseas in recent years -- won that contract.

Tingley declined to comment, saying he and others involved in producing his report are all operating under what he called "a confidentiality order."

Patrice Ryan, a Montreal publicist working for Fournier, says the former chief executive of the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridge Corp. denies getting bribes and will co-operate with the RCMP.

Swiss authorities are already investigating the allegations that Fournier accepted cash deposits totalling $1.5 million in 2002 as the bridge work was being completed.